Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path. (Psalm 119)
Jonah 3: 1-10 & Luke 11:29-30 It is uncomfortable to face my evil ways, yet when I am completely honest before the holiness of the Spirit of God, they are undeniably there: small bites of self-centredness and satisfaction, larger swaths of thoughts and words that are more fragmenting than holy (whole-ly), and a great heap of possessions that bleed my spirit of time and energy. It is these ‘small’ evils that work their way into my life that will spell disaster in my life, and the lives of those around me. During Lent in particular, but indeed at any time, when I turn to receive the Word of God or the Body and Blood of Christ, God calls me to turn from my evil (and hasty) ways and allow him to ‘blot out my transgressions according to his abundant mercy’ so that I receive the grace and mercy of God with clean hands and a pure heart. When will I yearn for God’s wisdom and love enough to deliberately and commited-ly turn from my evil ways? Christ Jesus, help me turn from my evil ways. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me. (Psalm 51) Truth sees God, and wisdom contemplates God, and from these two comes a third, a holy and wonderful delight in God, who is love. Julian of Norwich www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam Dei
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Isaiah 53:10,11 Snow and rain, especially in the spring of the year, penetrate dry earth and form puddles, rivers, lakes and oceans to give drink and cleansing to all forms of creation on earth. Even the rock on the crust of our planet is shaped and shifted by forces of flowing, penetrating and freezing water. So it is with the Word of God. As predictably as rain and snow fall onto all parts of the earth’s surface, to a greater or a lesser degree, so the Word of God falls more or less on my being, depending on my ‘location’ in life. It falls ‘more’ when I take time to turn to God, in a quiet church, when I am engaged in holy prayer or when I am looking for my Creator’s expression through the face of nature or another human being. It falls ‘less’ when I am rushing to obtain possessions, fame or success. But wherever it falls, the precipitation of God’s wisdom and mercy penetrates my heart, mind soul, and strength with life-giving drink and cleansing power, and shapes the bedrock of my being. Today, will I position myself to receive more, rather than less, of the Word of God? Holy Spirit of God, let your Word soak into my being. O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together... Look to him, and be radiant; so your faces shall never be ashamed. (Psalm 34 ) Truth sees God, and wisdom contemplates God, and from these two comes a third, a holy and wonderful delight in God, who is love. Julian of Norwich www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam Dei Deuteronomy 30:15-20 As followers of Jesus one great grace of Lent is that we have opportunity to lean into the wonderfully-correcting discipline of Lent. If my fast is from snacks, each time I reach for food between meals, I have opportunity to exercise my right to choose life over death, to choose abstinence over the ‘just one bite’ that would lead me to be dominated by my appetite. If on the other hand my fast is from ‘complaints and voicing negativity’, each time I find my lips moving to speak juicy invectives or sour adjectives, I can exercise my choice of life over death, by remaining silent or speaking gratitude and mercy instead. And if my fast is from purchasing ‘eye candy’ or more possessions each time I walk into a store, I am able to exercise self control and choose life over death by ‘looking at all the things I don’t have to buy’ and leaving empty handed. Such sure and steady spiritual discipline through the six weeks of Lent exercises my freedom to deliberately choose the path of life and benefit from the clarity and strength of purpose its gives me. How will I exercise my right to life by fasting this Lent? Christ Jesus, help me choose not death but life. I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life ... (Deuteronomy 30:19) Perseverance sometimes consists of remaining without doing anything, or else, on the contrary, doing everything that one did not think one had come to do. Fr. Jean-Charles Nault, The Noonday Devil: Acedia, the Unnanmed Evil of Our Times www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam Dei Sirach 35:1-15 It can be much easier to become a victim of circumstance instead of a redeemed child of God scripted by Baptism. Sliding down into the black hole of complaint and becoming covered with the slurry of bitterness and despondence takes less effort than standing up into well-being and assuming the glory of God. In order to live into the well-being that is my God-given privilege as a child of the Creator, I need to break free of the magnetism of negativity (acedia*) and rid my soul of greasy resentments and patterns of unforgiveness that cling to me every time I think or speak words of discouragement, judgement or self-righteousness. By standing up by the strength of the Holy Spirit, and cleaning up by the sacrifice of Christ Jesus, I can begin again to live again into the profound well-being of mind, soul body and spirit that I am designed for. Indeed, I need to carefully consider the cost of such an offering to God, because it will require the sacrifice of all of my own self-righteousness, my own self-reliance, and my own self-satisfaction. Am I ready to take up this challenge? Holy Spirit of God, help me make you an offering of well-being. Those who bring thanksgiving as their sacrifice honour me; to those who go the right way I will show the salvation of God. (Psalm 50:23) It is important to recognize that acedia is a devisive and debilitating force. What unites is life, and those under the sway of acedia [in any of its forms] are deprived of life. Jorge Mario Bergoglio (Pope Francis)” In Him Alone is our Hope”, 2006 For further insight into acedia and how it operates in life, see https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/otc.cfm?id=1283 www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam Dei
Sirach 17: 24-29 Arguably, each and every man, woman and child originates in close connection with the Creator, our Lord of Life, Father God. It makes sense, then, that as much as I am in close contact with the Lord, I am living into the reality of my being as a beloved child of God. Conversely, as much as I turn away from God, to participate in iniquity, in sin in any of its subtle forms, I turn my back on the One who loves me well and calls me to be the ‘best version of myself’. When I feel alone and rejected, it is time to return to the Lord, and turn away from the iniquity of bitterness and revenge. When I am exhausted from ‘trying to do it all myself’, it is time to return to the Lord, and to turn away from the iniquity of prideful self-centredness and selfish ambition. When I feel useless and undervalued by family and friends, it is time to return to the Lord, and turn away from the iniquity of self-focus and truncated vision. When I work so hard on a project, and it blows up in my face, leaving me licking my wounds and scratching my head, it is time to return to the Lord, and turn away from the iniquity of depression and anxiety. Indeed, whenever anything happens in my life, it is always a good time to return to the Lord, and to turn away from iniquity of all kinds! Is it time for me to return to the Lord and turn away from any kind of sin? Holy Spirit, help me! Help me return to the lord, and turn away from iniquity. How great is the mercy of the Lord, and his forgiveness for those who return to him! (Sirach 17: 29) Self-rejection is the greatest enemy of the spiritual life because it contradicts the sacred voice that calls us the "Beloved." Being the Beloved constitutes the core truth of our existence. Fr. Henri Nouwen www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam Dei |
AuthorBeverly Illauq lives in Kemptville, Ontario, where she greets each morning by seeking the Gospel Mystery of the Day - the Word of the Lord for direct and practical application to the specific challenges & joys of the day. Archives
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